Tales From A Bartender
by driver picks the music
Summary: -Two Shot- This is what happens after Damon and then Elena both come to Matt for advice. Summary sucks I know, please give it a chance, you might be surprised.
1. Chapter 1

**I haven't seen the last two episodes yet, so this has nothing to do with them. This follows the show up to a point, and then I've taken it my own way. I hope no one is confused by it, if so, let me know and I'll try to clear up any questions. This is my first TVD's fic, but I have written for other shows. Thanks for reading :o)**

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Matt stood behind the bar at the Grill, serving drinks. He wasn't really suppose to, since he wasn't of age yet, but sometimes when they were short handed, he did anyway. He noticed someone walk in, and looked up and sighed to himself as he watched Damon walk in and head for the bar.

Matt reached for a glass and had a drink ready for the man when he sat down. Damon lifted the glass in a silent salute and smirked. Matt could see he had already been drinking. Damon downed the drink without a word, and Matt refilled it. He was turning away when Damon reached out and grabbed the bottle "Leave this, I'll need it again." Matt left him the bottle and walked away.

It was about an hour later when Matt, rag in hand, walked back over and stood in front of Damon. He began to wipe up the drops of liquid on the bar around his glass, and was going to walk away again, when Damon stopped him by asking "How did you do it?" Matt sighed a little, wondering if it would be easier to just walk away, or talk to the man. If he walked away, he follow. Matt sighed again "Do what?"

Damon shrugged looking into his glass "Handle being around her, knowing you can't have her, knowing she wants someone else." Matt raised his brows, this was not something he had ever expected from this mans mouth. Yes it was plain for everyone to see that there was more than friendship on his mind when it came to Elena, but Matt had had no idea it went as deep as that.

He leaned on the bar and shrugged one shoulder "I didn't really. I told her how I felt, but I also let her know that if she was happy with Stefan, than I would respect that. And then I didn't hang around much." He glanced across the room to where Caroline was sitting at a table with Tyler, a smile on her face as she laughed at something he said "And then I moved on." He said, still watching Caroline, wondering if he would ever move on again.

Damon, knowing he would regret this later, heard himself asking "But what if you already did that, what if she's the one that helped you move on in the first place?" Matt frowned a little, wondering just how much Damon had had to drink "I'm still working on that one myself." He said truthfully.

He watched as Damon took another drink from his glass "Have you told her how you feel?" Damon looked at the boy standing infront of him "In a way."

Matt rolled his eyes "Look we both know I don't like you but for some reason Elena does, and it's pretty clear to me, that if you play your cards right, it could go a little farther than just friends."

Damon smirked "Play my cards right huh?" he asked, thinking back to the night in her room when he snapped her little brothers neck "I'm pretty sure I already lost that game." Matt stood up right and shrugged again "I'm not sure what to tell you man, all I know is that her and Stefan aren't together now. I don't know if they'll get back together or not, but if you don't tell her how you really feel, you'll never know what might have been."

Damon stood and threw a few bills on the bar. He started to turn away, but stopped and looked back at the kid "You're an awful bartender." he said, then he left, as quickly as he had come.

Matt shook his head and went back to work, wondering just what Elena found in that guy that was worth her time.

...

It was maybe a half hour later when Elena showed up. Matt smiled as she walked up to the bar "Hey." Elena said hello, but she didn't offer a smile. Matt looked at her closely "What's wrong, you look like your whole worlds falling apart."

Elena wanted to laugh at that. Her world was no longer falling apart, Klaus was trapped in the tomb, and Katherine was dead, she was safe. She woke up this morning and she knew that the people she loved were also safe. But then she thought about Stefan, and knew that it was still over between them, and for that she would forever be sorry. She didn't;t want to hurt him anymore than she already had, but she couldn't let him go on thinking they still had a chance.

Elena was pulled out of her thoughts by Matt laying a hand on her arm "Elena, what's wrong?" He asked again. She shrugged "I woke up today and realized that it's completely over with Stefan." Matt nodded "I'm sorry Elena." She shook her head "But the thing is, I'm ok with that. We're not meant to be together, I know that he's not my great love, and I'm not his." What she didn't add, was that she was pretty sure his great love was now a rotting corpse on the floor of a hidden tomb under a burned out church.

Matt nodded again "Alright, so what's the problem?" Elena sighed "Damon." Matt smiled to himself and nodded once again "What about Damon?"

Elena looked around the room before turning back to him "I know you don't like him, and I would normally talk to Bonnie or Caroline about this, but Bonnie _really_ doesn't like him, and Caroline...well, she's a little preoccupied." Matt nodded and looked to the pool tables where she and Tyler were now playing a game with Jeremy. "I understand, what's going on?"

Elena sat down with a sigh "He's in love with me." she stated, as if it were something she had always known. Matt raised his brows "Really?" Elena nodded "Yeah, but he doesn't think I know." She shrugged "Long story short, he said it, but thinks I don't remember." At Matt's frown she said "Like I said, long story, not important. What is important, is the fact that I do remember." She held her hands out in a helpless manner "What do I do about that?"

Matt leaned on the bar "What do you want to do about it?" Elena frowned slightly "What do you mean?" Matt shrugged "Do you want him to know that you know? Or do you want him to go on thinking that you forgot for whatever reason, and that be the end of it. Or" he said again "do you want him to tell you again,knowing that you'll remember?"

Elena thought it over for a moment "I want him to know that I know, I want him to know that the person he showed me in that moment, isn't something he has to hide from me. I want him to know that I forgive him, really forgive him, and that I want him in my life, even if Stefan isn't." Matt nodded "Do you have feelings for him?"

Elena frowned again "What does that have to do with anything?" Matt smirked "You said he's in love with you right? Most guys like it if the girl they love, loves them back. It'll matter to him. Trust me." Elena thought back to that night in her room. He had said that she was kidding herself if she had thought what they had wasn't going somewhere, wasn't something more. He was right "Yes" she said finally "There's some feelings."

Matt nodded again "Well there you go, problem solved." Elena raised her brows "What do I do?" Matt chuckled "Tell him." He said, letting her know by his tone that he thought it was obvious "You need to tell him how you feel. You might be surprised how this all turns out." Elena nodded "You're right, I should just tell him." she frowned again "But I need to talk to Stefan about this also, they are brothers, it might be a little weird for them."

Elena stood then, looking determined "But first, I need to see Damon. If I can't work things out with him, there's no reason to talk to Stefan at all, right?" Matt nodded, and smiled to himself once again as he watched her square her shoulders and walk out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Elena stood outside the front door to the boarding house. This was silly, she told herself. He's already told her he loved her, why would she think he would reject her now? Because, she told herself, it's Damon. He might have decided that they would be a bad idea, for whatever reason, and want nothing to do with her.

She sighed and raised her hand to knock, only one way to find out. She knocked, waited, then the door opened and there he was. She smiled slightly "Damon." He raised one of those perfect brows and quirked his lips into the perfect little smirk "Elena" he said, stepping back to let her in "To what do I own the pleasure of this unexpected visit?" He did that eye thing that she would never tell him she loved "My dear broody brother isn't here at the moment, so you'll have to settle for me."

It was Elena's turn to smirk "I know he's not here." she said she she walked past him and into the living room. The smirk was gone now and both brows were raised slightly "You did?" He asked, sounding surprised. Elena nodded "Yeah, I wanted to talk to _you_. There's something I need to tell you about."

Damon nodded and motioned for her to sit. He took a seat in a chair as Elena sat on the couch. He said nothing, waiting for her to speak. She cleared her throat "I wanted to tell you about the night that you and Stefan saved me from Elijah."

Damon said nothing still, and Elena couldn't tell from his expression what he was thinking. He simply nodded "That night, I got home and didn't have my necklace, so after Bonnie left and Jeremy went to bed, I made myself a cup of tea." she said. Damon still said nothing, but he now looked slightly confused, as if he were wondering just why she were telling him this.

Elena leaned forward a little "Jenna's tea. The tea that Stefan gave her. The tea that Katherine got her to stop drinking." She shrugged "I had a cup of tea, then I took a shower and got ready for bed, and then you were there."

Then finally "Oh." That was all, he didn't move, didn't say anything more, only 'Oh'. Elena nodded "Yeah, you had my necklace, and you told me that you loved me, that you didn't deserve me but Stefan did. You said that as much as you wish I didn't have to, I needed to forget about it. But what you didn't know, was that I had a cup of tea."

Nothing, no reaction from him at all, it was as if he were frozen. Elena smiled "See the thing is" she said, leaning forward a little more, feeling almost giddy to be telling him this "I'm glad I had the tea. I don't want to forget. Not ever."

That was when he moved. Without a word, he was up, standing in front of the fire place, his back to her. Elena stood up and walked over to him "Don't shut me out yet, there's more I need to tell you." She reached her hand out and laid in on his back "I forgive you, as crazy as it might be, I forgive you. And I thank you, for risking your own life to keep mine safe."

He turned around to look at her, he opened his mouth, but she stopped him from talking just yet "And even though Stefan and I are through, I don't want that to be true of you and I. I want you in my life, you're one of my best friends, you get me in a way that no one else ever has." She reached out once again, and laid her hand on his arm this time "And one more thing, the night in my room, when you told me that I was kidding myself about us, you were right." She shrugged "You were right."

Damon chuckled a little and shook his head "Of course I was right." He said, as he lifted a hand and brushed the hair from her face "I was also right when I said that I don't deserve you." Elena shrugged "But you were wrong when you said that Stefan did. He doesn't really love me, the one that he loves is gone now."

Damon shook his head "How is it possible, after everything I've done, for you to forgive me?" Elena smiled "Because that's what you do for the people you love." Damon lifted both hands then, cradling her face in them. Without a word he lowered his mouth to hers. Elena returned the kiss, knowing in her heart that this was right, this was how it was meant to be.

Damon pulled away just long enough to say a breathless "I love you Elena." before claiming her lips once more. Elena pulled back, needed breath, and she smiled "I love you too Damon." He smiled, a real smile. Not a cocky grin, or a smirk, but a real -I'm Happy and I want to show it- kind of smile.

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They walked into the grill, hand in hand. Damon saw Matt and nodded his head once. Matt lifted his chin. Elena saw him and smiled, and mouthed a 'Thank you' He smiled back and mouthed 'You're welcome'

He watched as they found a booth and Damon laughed at something she said. He was amazed at the change in the man since this afternoon. But, Matt thought to himself, he's in love, with a girl that loves him back. And really, that's enough to turn even Damon Salvatore into a nice guy. At least for awhile.

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**So that's the end of this story, but I as thinking of doing a sequel, a series of one shots about their life together. What do you think, would you like to see one? Let me know. :o) And thanks to everyone who reviewed and alerted this story, you all rock!**


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